Cross posted at The Fairfax County Young Dems Blog and at Raising Kaine
Recently the Washington Post came to the same conclusions that many of us have been feeling for a while now, that the Democratic base around the Commonwealth and the entire country has become invigorated.
This column Now, a Word About the Invigorated 11th District Democrats by Lisa Rein, was actually a response to her own column two weeks prior in which she described how Leslie Byrne might run in the 11th district in the open seat that Tom Davis will vacate in 2008 to run for Senate. Problem is, as I wrote in this diary, Tom Davis is currently vulnerable and has a serious challenger this year in Andy Hurst. Additionally, the Washington Post columnist didn’t mention Andy Hurst even once, as if Davis was running unchallenged this year, and we were all looking forward to 2008.
Well, that particular writer was WRONG as she soon found out. Instead, many a Democrat from unknown voters to George Burke, Chairman of the 11th District Committee wrote letters to the editor expressing their dismay that Andrew Hurst was not even mentioned a single time in Ms. Rein’s column.
I was stunned by “Byrne’s Back and Looking to Run” [Fairfax Politics column, July 6]. While speculating about political races in 2008, Lisa Rein inexplicably failed to mention the Democratic challenge that Andrew Hurst, winner of last month’s Democratic primary, has mounted in the race to unseat Rep. Thomas M. Davis III in the 11th District this November.
Mr. Hurst has restored my hope in Congress’s potential to actually benefit my family in ways that matter — with his proposals to make college tuition more affordable and address traffic congestion and energy consumption while protecting the environment, to name a few.
After this barrage of letters Ms Rein was forced to write an entire column about how “invigorated” the 11th District Democrats are, not just the old little “correction”.
Here are the juicy parts…
President Bush’s popularity remains low, and Fairfax County has leaned Democratic in recent state and federal elections, so Democrats hope this is the year that Rep. Thomas M. Davis III, who is considered a moderate, will be vulnerable in the 11th District.
Their intensity showed in an outpouring of reaction to a column (“Byrne’s Back and Looking to Run,” July 6, the Fairfax Extra) about the political ambitions of Democrat Leslie L. Byrne, the former congresswoman and state senator from Falls Church.
If you made it this far (down this long diary, I do apologize) and you want to help get Andy Hurst elected you are lucky in that there are three things from which you can choose to help out.
1. Hit the old “Recommend” button on the right side of your screen to help get the word out that the 11th District of Virginia has just become a competitive race.
2. VOLUNTEER!!This perhaps is the most important thing you can do. Andy has been out knocking on doors since August 2005 and we should be helping him
3. CONTRIBUTE to Andy Hurst. Andy needs our help on this one too. While it is true that Andy has already raised 2.5 times the 2004 Dem candidate did through election day, he is also refusing to take PAC money making individual donations his only source for campaign funds.